Technical Field of the Invention
This invention is related to energy storage devices and applications thereof and more particularly to magnetic capacitor energy modules and applications thereof.
Description of Related Art
There are a variety of types of electrical energy storage devices including rechargeable batteries, batteries, electrochemical accumulators, electrolytic capacitors, and electrochemical capacitors (i.e., super capacitors or ultra capacitors). Such electrical energy storage devices are used in a wide variety of applications ranging from portable electronic devices to electric vehicles to alternative power sources. For example, rechargeable batteries are used in cellular telephones, in electric cars, toys, etc.
An electrochemical capacitor, or super capacitor, is a pseudo-hybrid of a conventional capacitor (e.g., an electrolytic capacitor) and a rechargeable battery. In particular, a super capacitor does not have a conventional solid dielectric of an electrolytic capacitor, but includes an electrochemical core that allows the super capacitor to be charged and discharged much faster than a rechargeable battery. Further, the electrochemical core allows the super capacitor to be recharged significantly more times than a rechargeable battery.
While a super capacitor has about 10% of the energy density of a rechargeable battery, it has about 10 to 100 times the power density. Since a super capacitor is a low voltage device (e.g., less than 5 volts), it may be used as an alternative electric power source to that of a rechargeable battery in some low voltage applications.